Already boasting a big lead in the Formula One drivers’ championship standings, Vettel sat out the last section of qualifying under the lights at Marina Bay in order to save a set of the super soft tires for the race.

The 2014 FIA WEC schedule features the same eight rounds from this year’s schedule and will once again kick off in Silverstone. (Photo: John Dagys)

The provisional schedule for the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship was announced Friday at Circuit of The Americas.

Featuring the same eight rounds from this year’s globe-trotting sports car series, the season will again kick off at Silverstone in April followed by rounds at Spa, Le Mans, Sao Paulo, Circuit of The Americas, Fuji, Shanghai and Bahrain, which will end two weeks earlier than 2013.

With the rest of the MotoGP teams having departed Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli on Monday evening, Suzuki stayed on to complete a further two days of running at the Adriatic venue.

At the end of Wednesday, Suzuki reported a ‘positive’ conclusion to proceedings, having evaluated several new factory components including a new chassis, new engine specifications and revised electronics plus a newly-styled cowling. Randy de Puniet and Nobuatsu Aoki completed more than 200 laps of Misano, collecting valuable data ahead of their next test at Mugello next week.